Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2013 19:41:39 +1300
From: Hira Kaiwai <hirakaiwai@yahoo.com>
Subject: Oracle of Bones - Chapter 2

Disclaimer: The following is a complete work of fiction, spun from my
imagination and is in no way meant to resemble any real person, place or
organisation. This story will eventually contain sexual situations between
individuals (consenting or otherwise) irrespective of age, race or gender,
so if this could possibly offend you or is illegal in your area then please
read no further.

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Questions, comments and creative critiques (especially if it is to point
out spelling and grammar issues - please note that my writing will be in
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I would like to take this opportunity to thank Osriel Rodriguez for his
hard work in editing and making this chapter legible. Words cannot properly
express my profound gratitude. Thank you my friend.


The Oracle of Bones

Chapter 2

Taio stood in guard stance, hands lightly gripping the shaft of his taikara
paddle-spear and waited for his next opponent. It was his final test to
determine his worthiness of being a Guardian. At sixteen cycles, he was the
youngest of his group, but also one of the best and he had been in training
since he took his first steps.

He came from a long line of Guardians, stretching all the way back to the
founding of the order, which came about from the teachings and philosophies
of Lanaika, the first Guardian.

To be a Guardian was the highest pinnacle any warrior could attain. He was
first noticed at a young age when he showed a natural ability to wood craft
- a key skill required of a warrior; excelling in the manufacturing of
spirit weapons from the sacred soul trees that housed the spirit essence of
his ancestors.

He made his first taikara at the age of ten achieving adept status in its
manufacturing before beginning his studies in word crafting, learning to
accurately remember, recall and recite events as they happened. He had
little difficulty in this aspect of his training. Taio was born with an
eidetic memory that enabled him to quickly assimilate and store vast
amounts of information for future usage.

His only real problem lay in the fact that he was painfully introverted and
would spend long moments lost in his thoughts as his mind constantly sifted
through his experiences gleaning new layers of meaning from everything he
saw around him.

He spoke very seldom and when he did it was only ever after very careful
contemplation and could sometimes take days to formulate a proper response
to questions that were posed to him in purely social contexts. In his
younger days this earned him the ridicule of his peers and he became very
shy, further enhancing his natural inclination to introversion.  The only
person he was able communicate with was his cousin and friend Lendra, and
when she became a water crafter he knew that his path would follow
hers. They would sit for long moments saying nothing to each other but
finding meaning and mutual companionship in each others presence and
silence. She could read him better than anyone and had an almost uncanny
ability know what he was thinking or wanting to say in any given moment.

It was both comforting and disconcerting in equal measure.

His current opponent was a man named Napari, he was twenty two cycles and
had become a Guardian three cycles prior and yet to be selected by a water
or stone craft master to serve.

Of all the crafts known to the Manai water crafting and stone crafting were
the most magically aspected and required such intense study and mental
discipline that the practitioners of either craft possessed little or no
martial prowess and was one of the main reasons that the Order of Guardians
was established, the other was to act as witness.

Napari was content with his fate though. Many Guardians had to wait years
to be selected, and there was no shame. Each craft master required
different attributes of their Guardians and even if they were never
selected, the skills and abilities they accumulated through their training
were important assets to their tribes.

The Barakai where the testing was taking place, was packed with the friends
and families of the days examinees, who filled the seats and balconies
surrounding the central courtyard. War chants and battle songs filled the
air as the spectators got into the spirit of the ritual combat about to
take place.

Taio let the noise wash over him as he prepared for his final fight, the
last hurdle before he could claim his place and earn his title. Everything
he had ever worked for came down to this moment.

"Mata!!" Yelled the the Grand Master and Taio advanced, ready to give this
battle every last thing he had. He just hoped it would be enough...

*

The roar of the waterfall overflowed her being with its vibrant and violent
power. Lendra drank it all in becoming one with her element. In her minds
eye she called upon her crafter's grid and strummed the lines of power that
connected her to the water in simpatico with her inner awareness.

Twenty four lines of power she had cultivated in the past two years but
still she knew she was far from her mastery. No matter how much she studied
it, how in depth she dived into research and meditation, there was always
something more to uncover, some new depth to explore and illuminate, some
new pattern of power to uncover and implement.

This morning she was determined to practice and perfect a new Dainali
attack form by layering it with a spell combination of six interwoven power
lines in a spiral lattice pattern with a seventh over lapping and
intertwining at predetermined intervals to ground and augment the spells
effects.

The effect when done correctly should be spectacular. All her research
pointed to it being feasible but no one had ever really used water crafting
in such an overtly offensive way.

Water crafting had been used defensively for generations and some had even
used it in combat situations to shield, bless or heal and even to enchant
weapons and armour but no one could remember using water, the very essence
of life, to cause harm.

When she had first conceived of the idea, she had asked some of the
different adepts if such a thing were possible and all had looked at her as
if she had grown a second head. None had even conceived of it as being a
possibility and some even shuddered at the thought of it, but no one
appeared to be willing or even able to help her further in her endeavour.

Thats why this morning she was determined to practice and put proof to her
theory even if it killed her, though she was really hoping that wouldn't
happen.

She closed her eyes and called up her grid. The pattern forming in her
minds eye, as she had memorised it. She started slowly feeding her power
through it and fine mist began to gather, steadily thickening and drifting
faster and faster towards her as the very moisture in the air responded to
her spells summons and gathered around her hands like gauntlets. At the
same time she moved through the different guard and block sequences of the
beginning of the Dainali form.

Lendra shifted effortlessly into the counter attack pattern and the water
she commanded responded accordingly. Her power followed the augment line,
activating the different attachment nodes on her grid.

The mist gauntlets shredded and reformed into six balls of water which
stabilised and rose around her head. She moved into the final part of her
grid pattern and activated the spell in its entirety, feeding power into
the sixth line and throwing her hands forward in an open palmed strike. The
orbs erupted into long streams of high velocity spray that suddenly froze
over turning into long shards of ice that impaled a number of nearby trees
after carving through a couple of trees closer to her.

Lendra stared in open mouthed surprise. The fact she had succeeded was one
thing, but the efficacy of her spell almost appalled her. A groaning creak
snapped her out of her thoughts and she quickly ran for cover as one of the
trees she had sheared through began to lean precariously in her direction
before toppling over and crashing to the ground a few feet away from where
she had been standing, followed promptly by a second tree, and then finally
a third, knocked down by the force of the second trees fall, this time
backwards with the spears of ice still sticking out like the quills of a
deranged porcupine.

A loud cry followed by a pain filled sob came from the direction where the
third tree had fallen. Panic filled her but instincts took over and before
she even had time to think about it she was running to help.

Adherence to the Lore meant she was honour bound to help any and all who
were hurt and in this particular case, because it was by her actions that
the person had been harmed, she was directly responsible for them.

Incanting a prayer to Vaidana the Preserver she slipped around the fallen
tree searching for where the noise was coming from. She didn't have to look
to far however, she could see the legs of someone trapped beneath a branch
of the fallen tree.

Whizz-snickt!

The sound of something impacting into a tree, mere inches to her left, had
Lendra stop in fright. A long straight stick, with a strange tip of some
unknown material at one end and feathers attached to the other, impaled the
tree and vibrated menacingly. She dropped to the ground and slipped around
the tree for cover, peering around to see where the projectile had come
from.

There appeared to be no further movement and just as she was about to get
up and move closer another shape stepped cautiously out of the tree line
holding another one of the long stick attached to a curvy stick and a piece
of string.

The figure appeared to be a boy or possibly a man, not much older than her
but unlike anyone she had ever seen before. He was tall, much taller than
any other man she had know, and his features were alien looking.

The men of her tribe were all short but heavily muscled from long days of
hard work and training. The stranger was well structured but not bulky more
lean and athletic than what she was used to; like how she would have
pictured Aletai but much taller and his skin colour was much paler, almost
white. His hair was a fiery red colour that Lendra would have thought
impossible had she not seen it herself.

He was still quite a distance away so she couldn't make out any other
features but he was quickly and cautiously approaching, heading in the
direction of the person trapped under the fallen branch.

He started calling out in an unfamiliar language, his voice a deep bass
filled with concern and worry. The trapped person responded in a
pain-filled baritone that confirmed for her that the person trapped beneath
the tree branch was male and made her insides knot with worry.

She had to get to him, she had to help him somehow, someway. The fact he
was in pain was all her fault and she now had an obligation to render aid
in whatever way possible.

She stood and mustered all her courage before stepping out from behind the
tree, her hands raised above her head in a gesture of surrender and
supplication.

The red haired strangers head snapped up at her sudden movement from behind
the tree and he drew the string back to its full length and took careful
aim at her as she slowly and carefully made her way over.

"Drahzakh nin kovakh!" The red haired man shouted at her as she approached.

She just shook her head hoping he took that to mean she didn't understand
and not that she was refusing to comply with whatever statement or demand
he had made.

"Drahzakh nin kovakh!!" He yelled once more at her, his face a mask of
anger and fury.

He looked like he was almost going to let fly another one of the sticks but
the man trapped beneath the tree branch said something to the red haired
man that caused him to lower the weapon and rush to where his friend was.

Sensing that she had somehow earned a reprieve she felt doubly indebted to
the man she had harmed. Whoever his friend was, he would have been well
within his rights to slay her where she stood, and she said a brief prayer
of thanks to Vaidana for sparing her life as well.

Quickly she made her way to where the two men were and began assessing the
situation. The red haired mans deep green eyes were a storm of incandescent
rage and he glared murderously at her as she approached and withdrew a long
knife of a type of material she had never seen before. It was a dark grey
colour and pocked and nicked from frequent use and didn't look like it had
been sharpened for a while. Flecks of red and orange stood out here and
there giving the long bladed knife an almost diseased look.

"Draberun! Vikath na hun", the red headed man looked like he was about to
slice her heart out and feed upon it before the other man stopped him with
a pain filled command. The red head looked from her to the other man and
then back to her again before putting the knife away and trying desperately
to figure out a way to get his friend out.

"I don't know if you can understand me," she said in a concerned voice "but
please let me help."

The man injured man moaned and writhed in pain.

"Help... Please..." he asked in her tongue, heavily accented as it was,
before another pain filled sob slipped out.

"I will, my name is Lendra, I'm a water crafter and I will do everything in
my power to help you. Can you ask your friend to move a little? I need some
space to craft"

The injured man began speaking to the red head who looked like he was about
to argue until the injured man groaned once more, killing the red heads
argument before it had even left his lips.

He moved away slightly to one side but eyed Lendra like a dangerous animal,
ready to kill her at moments notice.

She broke off the tips of two of the ice spears and stabbed them into the
ground underneath the fallen branch to either side of the man trapped
beneath. She called up and reconfigured the pattern she had used on her
grid, removing two of the lines of power and replacing them with two
others. She made a number of changes to the augment line for a new purpose
before quickly feeding her power into it.

The ice tips took root in the ground and began to thicken and lengthen,
taking the form of miniature pillars that lifted the branch slightly off
the ground and giving her enough clearance to attempt to move the injured
man from beneath it.

The red head spoke quietly to the injured man, his voice filled with
concern. Lendra still hadn't seen what the injured man looked like until
then, but even in his pained and injured condition she thought of only one
word that could describe him. Beautiful...

She pulled a vial of healing water from a pouch at her waist and called up
her crafter's grid. She recalled a familiar pattern and used ten of her
lines of power; three lines were used to diagnose his injuries, three lines
were used to treat his pain and three were used to stabilise his injuries
until she could ascertain exactly what was wrong.

The final line was again the augmenter, allowing her to make changes to the
pattern as necessary, interconnecting and overlapping in sequences
pertinent to the information she would receive as the diagnostic strands
feed the information gathered directly back to her. The healing water crept
over the injured man's body, glowing a soothing blue colour before sinking
into his skin and starting to do its work.

The extent of his injuries were severe, he had a fractured pelvis, his left
leg was broken and his left arm but what worried her the most was the
internal bleeding. She would need to treat that first so she pulled out
four more vials of healing water, uncapped them and then poured them over
her right hand. The water clung to her hand like a glove, her left hand
reached for her crafter's pendant and traced the familiar pattern which
helped calm her mind and prepare her for what she was about to do. She
muttered a pray to Aduin the Healer and reconfigured her grid pattern
accordingly while it hummed with power, before placing her water incased
hand where her awareness directed.

The water flowed from her hand and through the injured man's skin, sinking
deeply and heading directly to the areas of greatest damage, repairing
severed and damaged blood vessels and staunching the flow of internal
bleeding as well as replacing a small portion of the fluids he had lost
before she moved onto his other injuries.

The fractured pelvis was the next most serious and would cause him a lot of
pain unless treated. Fortunately none of his organs had been damaged which
surprised her. She reconfigured her pattern once more, taking two strands
out and replacing them with two others, and used the last of her water to
knit the pelvic fracture back together. The broken arm and leg would need
to wait until she could get him back to her village.

"I have to take you back to the village to treat the rest of your
injuries. I have no more water with me and it would drain too much of my
power to try a draw it from the air and consecrate it for proper use. Is
your friend able to carry you?" she asked as she checked him over to make
sure he was more or less alright and used it as an excuse to take a proper
look at the man.

He was taller than anyone else she had ever seen, not quite as tall as the
red head, but only marginally so. Where his friend's hair was bright red,
his was a deep shining black that made his pale complexion seem even more
so. His eyes were almost as impossible to believe as his friends red hair,
they were a shocking cobalt blue that seemed ageless and depthless and she
felt power behind those eyes the likes of which she had never felt before.

He spoke briefly to his red haired friend who just looked at her and
nodded, and while the murderous look had gone there was still a seething
anger behind that gazed that made her quail inside. She knew she had some
explaining to do but first she needed to make sure he received proper
treatment for his injuries.

She took some bandage cloth from her pack, which she tore into strips,
making a sling and strapping for a leg splint to stabilise his broken arm
and leg. Once he had been properly strapped up the red haired man gently
scooped up his friend into his arms and cradled him against his chest,
being ever so careful not to cause him any further pain.

The return to the village was quickly accomplished without further incident
and only took an hour to accomplish. All the while the red haired man
carried his friend as though he weighed nothing at all.

On approach to the village Lendra called in a haunting sing song chant
requesting permission to enter with an injured traveller and his
companion. It didn't take long before a reply came from the top of the
palisade walls of the fortified village. Permission was granted and the
guards stationed around the entrance stood down and allowed them to enter
unhindered.

Lendra led them straight to the House of Water. Grandmother Adelai was
sitting out front, spotting her as soon as she came around the corner and
stood calling out to her.

"Dear child what have we here?" she asked.

"An injured traveller and his companion Grandmother, he was injured by a
falling tree and has sustained severe injuries. I have treated the worst of
his injuries but ran out of consecrated water and the strength required to
complete his healing." she lithely brushed over her involvement in causing
his injuries but that would wait until later. She would have to call a meet
to decide what the consequences of her actions would be, and she wasn't
looking forward to that.

"Very well child, take them to the infirmary and make them comfortable,
then get Grandfather Toroneiha from the Sanctum, he can complete the
healing you begun."

She stood and bowed low to the travellers for one as old as she before
greeting them formally.

"Welcome honoured guests, I am Grandmother Aledai, water crafter of the
Nati Lamaina. We will see to your wounds and extend our hospitality. Please
follow Lendra, she will see to your needs."

She bowed once more before resuming her seat and gestured for them to enter
the House of Water.

"Gratitude.", his thick accent almost indecipherable, but Grandmother
Aledai understood none the less and smiled before looking more closely at
the injured man.

As soon as they locked eyes however, the breath seemed to leave her body
and the smile she had previously was replaced by a brief look of
consternation that only the two men saw as Lendra led them inside.

Once they had gone inside however she picked up a small bowl filled with
water, called up her crafters grid and used a familiar pattern of three
lines plus two augmenters and filled it with her power. The water in the
bowl sparkled and swirled and the face reflected back was not the same as
her own.

"Grandmother Takeda, I need to see you as soon as possible." she spoke
softly into the bowl. The reflection of Grandmother Takeda simply nodded
before the image swirled away into oblivion.

***

gLord Alerdon, the Tarneska is close to the end, she requests your
presence before it comes so she may atone. If you will follow me
please...h The man servant bowed low before him, eyes downcast and
hands clasped at the front in the correct manner of a court servant,
awaiting a response from him.

The Lord Alerdon sighed inwardly and rose from his seat. He straightened
his robes and indicated for the man-servant to continue with his appointed
task with a simple nod of his head. The man-servant scurried forward
opening doors and ante-chambers, on their way through the Royal
apartments. They moved with an urgency that would normally be considered
unbecoming if not down-right rude within the royal suites, but given the
circumstances, time was of the essence.

The doors to the Tarneskafs room were open and the guards bowed low to
him as he moved through them on his way, and then into the main bed
chamber. The sight that greeted him was a vastly different picture from the
one he had seen just over a quarter cycle ago.

The Tarneska had slid significantly since being diagnosed with the wasting
disease and now the once bright room was drawn tight against the light of
the sun. Incense burners stood like mausoleum pillars lining the carpeted
path to an enormous canopied bed. In the centre, amid a pile of pillows and
cushions and swathed in blankets, a solitary, sunken figure of a once
powerful woman gazed down at him, regal, even in her current state.

The Lord Alerdon bowed prostrate at the foot of the Imperial bed, forehead
to the floor. The Tarneska made an annoyed hiss and gestured for him to
rise and come beside her. An usher jumped to attention and hurried to do
the Tarneskafs bidding.

gI am on my death bed and you choose now to stand on formality
Dovarkan?h She asked; her voice weaker but still commanding respect,
even if it dripped with sarcasm.

gYour majesty's willh He replied with a completely blank expression
and a perfect bow.  The Tarneska sighed and snapped her fingers twice, a
scribe and a priest of Caladon scurried forward, eager to do her bidding.

gDovarkan, The Lord Alerdon, you have been summoned to hear my
confession and to bear witness to my final proclamation. I call you as
Confessor and First Witness, do you accept the call?h The Tarneskas
personal priest recited on her behalf as was customary.

gI do, your majesty.h Dovarkan replied, bowing to the Tarneska in
acceptance of his task.  The Tarneska nodded, the hint of a smile upon her
lips before turning to address everyone present.

gIt is my will that all who are gathered now bear witness and confirm
the veracity of the events undertaken this evening. What say you all?h

gYour majesty's willh was the unanimous response.

"No word of what transpires this evening will ever be breathed to another
living being unless it is to bear witness to the events veracity of the
written and spoken word in court of formal challenge. What say you all?"

"Your majesty's will"

gVery well, first my confessions. I, Tarneska Bolaroven Stasia do
hereby confess to the following crimesch

As she began, the priest of Caladon placed the Tarneskafs hand into a
bowl of purest water, whilst the scribe documented every last word which
slipped from her lips.

From the time when she blamed a servant girl for stealing treats she
herself had stolen to more recent diplomatic crimes which she had
instigated either for her own benefit, the benefit of The Tor-Phidian
Empire or Great Plan, she listed as well as she could recall all her crimes
and incursions up until the last.

gc and finally, I confess to sinning against you my friend. The
finality of my crime will not be known until after my death, but you will
not love me for what I have done. I can only say that you and you alone are
our only hope. There was no other way, please believe mech a
hacking cough wracked her small frame and it seemed as if it took all her
power just to remain conscious. She fought to sit herself upright and the
flame of determination burned once more behind her eyes.

gBear witness, the Lord Avestos has been appointed executor of my
will. As my final proclamation I Stasia of House Bolaroven, last and final
Tarneska of the line of Caladon, long live his name, do invest all the
powers and privileges of my line upon House Alerdon and with, my final
breath do I proclaim him Regentch she coughed and coughed and
coughed again until a gurgling pop erupted from within her chest. Her eyes
rolled into the back of her head and she lurched forward, spilling blankets
and pillows all about and lay still. The priest of Caladon and Danask, the
Tarneska's man-servant were beside her in moments and it was evident that
she was gone.

Dovarkan reacted immediately; he pulled a vial of oil from a pocket in his
robes and began to administer the Tarnesk Davitanyi.

gCaladon, First Tarneski, I commit unto your keeping the soul of Stasia
of House Bolaroven, last and final Tarneska of your line." Dovarkan pour a
little oil into the palm of his left hand and resealed the bottle. It was
oil from the manika flower. A highly fragrant variety that was distilled
mostly for ceremonial purposes and for its sweet and lingering scent of
citrus and strawberries. He dabbed his right index finger in the small
puddle and placed a little oil on each eye lid.

"Unto my keeping she has committed her final confession, and with her final
breath invested all her powers both worldly and otherwise in my House and
upon my shoulders to keep in sacred trust." He turned her arms over and
dabbed a small amount on each wrist as he continued.

"Cast your light upon her and accept her into your presence. So be it!h
with the final words he inscribe the sigil of Caladon upon her forehead
using the last of the oil and stepped back. A whispering rush ran through
his body as he completed the ritual and the benediction of his God overcame
him.

He stepped back again and the former Tarneskafs body began to glow with
Caladons Light, claiming her as one of his own and blessing her sacred
remains.

The servants scurried around him, preparing the Tarneska for burial. The
guards and assorted other servants all hovered back watching and waiting
for him as he stood there, staring down at his one-time friend who had just
done what she promised she would never do.

He had kept his promise though, even after all this time, he had kept his
promise.

Three days laterc

gLast will and testament of Stasia of House Bolaroven, last and final
Tarneska of her linech Lord Avestos began the reading of the
Tarneskafs will to the gathered lords and ladies of the Tarn High
Council. The final proclamation had invested the regency of the Tarn and
the empire with House Alerdon, but succession arrangements still needed to
be tended to. The Tarneska had left no acknowledged heir and all known
persons of her name and line had passed. She was to have been the last hope
for a once great house but no matter how much she tried with husbands and
concubines, she was never able to hold a child full term.

gI, Stasia of House Bolaroven, being sound of mind and body do
herebych Dovarkan paid no attention to the proceedings. His regency
would end with the new succession orders the reading of her will would
initiate. The Bolaroven family had ruled the Great Tarn of Tor, and the
Tor-Phidian empire by extension, for over two hundred uninterrupted
generations so the rites of succession had never had to be invoked
before. The Great Temple of Transitions would be opened and the scroll of
Illumination would be consulted to best appease the gods with the selection
of the new Tarnesk.

gTo the Lord Alerdon I leave my man servant Danask and the contents of
my private library and study. The totality of my families remaining estates
and lands and their chattels are entrusted to the care and preservation of
House Alerdon and a stipend for their maintenance has been arranged and is
included in their deeds of ownership. I also name him Regent until the
Crowns Choosing has been completed at which time the lands, estates and
personal fortune will become the sole property of the new Tarnesk..."

The rest of the reading dragged on as the Lord Avestos named the recipients
of the late Tarneska's favour, some received lands for their dedicated
service while others, notably her favoured servants and slaves were given
money and, in the case of the later, their writ of freedom; essential
making them and all their issue free citizens of the Empire.

Dovarkan knew many, if not all, would remain in their present occupations,
but their writs gave them rights within the empire and their children the
chance to access education, public facilities and granted them the right to
prosecute infractions against their person committed by other citizens and
backed by law.

It was curious then that Danask, closest of all the Tarneska's servants was
not released, but was instead bequeathed in to Dorvarkan's service. No
matter, it just made certain things easier in the long run, much easier
indeed...